Showing him on his knees with a knife in hand wearing an orange jump suit before being beheaded by the same militant that killed james foley. This afternoon the white house, the state department and pentagon all said they are working to authenticate the video. Our thoughts and prayers foremost are with mr. Sotloff and his family and those who worked with him. If theres a rid video ha has been released it will be analyzed carefully by intelligence individuals to determine the authenticity. The Intelligence Community will work as quickly as possible to determine its authenticity. If the video is genuine, were sickened by this brutal act taking the life of another innocent american citizen. If confirmed, the execution of Steven Sotloff comes two weeks after isis killed james foley and another life is threatened, david hainz. The group controls territory larger than the entire United Kingdom and the rise of terrorism is hardly limited to iraq. Last night u. S. Drone strikes struck an area negotiate of mogadishu. A u. S. Official told New York Times, they are 80 sure the leader of al shabab was killed. Since august 8th, the u. S. Military launched 123 air strikes. Yesterday president obama for l formally notified congress he widened the campaign against isis. Now the beheading of yet another american journalist would shift the obama calculation on isis, thats a point which remains unclear. Joining me now to help us figure out that question is nbc news foreign correspondent, Ayman Mohyeldin and former director of the National Counterterrorism center, michael leiter. Michael, ill start with you, what does this mean for u. S. Foreign policy . Obviously we saw the air strikes come after the beheading of jim foley, that journalist. This now again seems to be isis almost calling out of president obama by a second time by name. What can we see in terms of reaction from this . I dont think this is going to shift the president s broad policy efforts. Hes made very clear after some strong statements from secretary hagel and others last week that he was pumping the brakes and that he really does want some broader coalition, some broader plan brought forth before he pushes beyond iraq into syria. And every terrorism official, National Security official understands that you cant stop isil without going after syria. Going after them in syria is a far more difficult problem than is iraq. I think this will be this is obviously very news worthy that he may have been executed but i dont think it will shift the president all that much. Ayman you said something on our earlier shows that i found extremely interesting. One of the reasons that isis is able to flourish is because the Financial Assistance they receive from wealthy individuals and other arab states, places like qatar. What can the u. S. Do to try to reign in governments to try to crack down on those individuals that fund isis . We have to be clear about one thing. We dont have any strong evidence, certainly nothing that has come out transparently that the governments of these states are actually supporting isis as a group. The big loophole and problem that exists in terms of financing comes from individuals and charitable organizations and religious organizations deeply rooted in that part, sometimes close to the ruling families of these countries because of the wealth that exists there and its through the back door channels that so much of the funding is taking place. Also, fund raising by people sympathetic to isis and their affiliates sending the money into the battlefield, that is extremely problematic for the u. S. And they did a good job tracking money in the post 9 11 era, trying to get the uae and others to close the loopholes and the front has proven challenging in addition to that, isis, after raiding banks and setting up their own economic infrastructure, taxing the transport taking place inside these areas they control, theyve been able to raise some of the funds themselves. Its a twopronged approach that is very challenging for the International Community to address. How would you advise the president in terms of trying to cut down the financing available to isis and try to empower the neighboring states to go after them in a way thats similar to the coalition that george h. W. Bush had in 1991 against Saddam Hussein . I would disagree a little bit with ayman that today isil is getting a relatively small percentage of its funding from outside donors. Other opposition groups within syria still are, especially from qatar and other countries in the gulf. One of the problems we face with isis, it is a governing entity. It controls large portions of territory and getting funding from kidnappings and funding from extortion and collecting taxes fundamentally and stolen over 400 million from a bank in mossul and getting oil revenue. This is going to be denying isil ground to operate in in iraq first, bringing in that International Coalition to point out it is a regional threat and i think we have strong support for the turks and jordanians and others but then coming up with a solution that provides opportunity for moderate opposition in syria. If you take down isil in syria, what takes its place . Ayman, from your reporting on the ground, theres been questions regarding timing, are we too late in trying to stop the isis threat and too late to assemble this International Coalition to have a lasting impact. Where do you fall on that . So much of this especially in iraq depends on the Central Government exerting real force, something they have not been able to show in the past. This involves us trying to figure out what comes after isis if were assisting bashar al assad. Theres two things, hindsight is always 20 20, if the u. S. Would have gotten involved in syria two years ago, we wouldnt have isis, they have con many calculations once they saw the ground swell in the western part of the country. In terms of the timing, it can also still get a lot worse. If the United States doesnt build that coalition of arab countries and get them involved and to take some action, i think were going to see the situation continue to worsen. One of the issues in terms of turkey, which has been a major conduit for isis, that is a nato country. Gateway to europe. Its very easy for isis to turn sights on turkey. They can start wreaking havoc on turkey as much as they have created problems inside iraq. Especially on the border area where they would find sympathetic fellows in those towns. Michael, in terms of what this poses as a direct threat to the United States, we heard from saudi King Abdullah that said within a month they would be in europe and two months in the United States. How do you read that. I think thats a general warning from the king that he wants the u. S. And west to be more involved. Thats largely what hes been saying less publicly over the last two years. I dont think we should built them up to say they are 10 feet tall. There are more than 1,000 westerners fighting in syria who have western passports and can travel easily to turkey and western europe and United States. Isil and other groups had a clear and strategic intent to strike the west. We know they have some technology that would help them do that. All of that adds up and says to me as a counterterrorism guy, we have to be on the offense because were not going to catch all of them just playing defense. And thats why i think being passive at this point for too long really does start to increase the risk. Lets say the u. S. Government becomes more aggressive and theres a coalition of forces in the region that becomes more aggressive and goes after isis, what though at the end of the day can actually aside from constant military force by the u. S. And our allies actually mitigate this threat . How do we establish that society where you talk about there is opportunity in the middle east . You need to fight the ideology and best way to do that is establish good governance. Thats never going to happen at the end of the an american gun or with western and military intervention. It has to be an organic process. There was probably a glimmer of hope with arab spring that they could turn the corner and establish good governing practices in these states. That hasnt yet happened but thats going to be the hope. One of the things ive heard throughout the course of the coverage and in a lot of the debate, its eesh al assad or isis, that binary approach cannot accepted by a lot of syrians who are refugees and rejecting both of those. Youre going to see somewhat moderate syrian middle group come into the form of trying to fill that gap. Can they do it on itself right now . Not in the current landscape. It does need the help of the International Community. A myman mohyeldin, nice to s you in new york city and michael leiter. Will the video from isis change how america engages the terror network. Fill their bowl with the meaty tastes theyre looking for, with friskies grillers. Tender meaty pieces and crunchy bites. In delicious chicken, beef, turkey, and garden veggie flavors. Friskies grillers. [ mala bit of italy when ycomes home with you. Bertolli. Your house . [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] with the taste of our chicken florentine farfalle skillets for two. Bertolli. Italy is served. 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We are continuing to follow the breaking news this hour of video from the terrorist group isis claims to show beheading of Steven Sotloff, nbc news has not confirmed the authenticity. It would make sotloff the second journalist killed in two weeks. His writer appeared in time and national interest. Steven was a valued contributor to time and other news organizations and gave his life to readers would have access to information from some of the most dangerous places in the world. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family. Meanwhile, members of congress are weighing in with their own thoughts on the killing. House Foreign AffairsCommittee Chairman he had royce said, the threat from isis seems to grow by the day working with key allies the United States need to be acting urgently to arm the kurds on Ground Fighting them and targeting isis from the air with drone strikes. Joining me on phone is democratic senator from florida, bill nelson. Senator nelson, thanks for being on the program. Steven sotloff and his family were constituents of yours down in southern florida. Have you had contact with the family yet and what is your initial reaction to news of his possible death . We have and ive stayed in touch through their representative with the family and weve reached out to that representative today to express how our hearts go out to the family and the friends of steven. His family not only lives here but he also went to college here. I am going to see this video next week in the one of our National Security committees but you dont have to see a video to know that the United States is the only one that can put together a coalition to go after this outfit that is so intense barbaric cruelty. And in this case, we have to go after them in Northern Iraq and kurdstan and that helped in holding them at bay with our air strike so that Ground Troops and near the mosul dam and iraqi army, can go after them. Now were going to have to join with the Free Syrian Army who not only started out fighting president assads regime in syria, but fighting isis. So were going to have put together the coalition that goes after this outfit because its very clear they are coming after us. Senator nelson, in the context of you there calling to the United States to assemble a coalition to go after isis, would you support american personnel on the ground if they were fighting next to arab state neighbors or perhaps a coalition from europe in going against isis . Not at this point, luke. Americans dont want to even consider the fact that youre going to put american boots on the ground. In fact, you may have to put some through special operations troops, for example, american boots have already been on the ground in the attempted rescue of those hostages. The problem was that the hostages werent wear our intelligence had told us that they were. But what you do is you put together the plans, the ability to strike these people are clearly coming after us and if there is a question of is it legal, does there need to be Legal Authority to go into syria, then that can be resolved and i will offer an amendment to the defense bill when it comes up. Let me elaborate on that. To go into syria, in order to combat isis . Thats correct. The Legal Authority for the president as articulated by the white house in iraq was for the protection of americans. There were americans in erbil, thus the strikes as isis was moving on that kurdish capital. Likewise with regard to the mosul dam because there were americans down river, especially in baghdad that if the dam had been blown up, there would be a flood down the river and of course there are quite a few americans in the capital city of baghdad. So if there is a legal question that in syria there are not americans and the president needed that Legal Authority, then i want to clear that up, majority support of the Armed Services committee in dealing with an amendment on that defense bill and at the end of the day, i think well have considerable majority the senate to pass senator bill nelson, thanks for joining us at this time. With us now, White House Correspondent at the huffington post, sam stein. Thanks for being on the show. You heard very interesting comments from florida senator nelson. Ill start with his desire for the United States to assemble a coalition with the possibility of special forces personnel on the ground with even the possibility of extending into syria to go after isis. Do you think there will be a lot of support in washington at this magnitude for that type of operation . Well, i think rea torically yes, weve seen lawmakers from across the idealogical spectrum talk about the need for international force, but pry marchly a muslim arabic based force, coalition to supplement the u. S. Mission of going after isis. The question is what are the details. Other people, including retired general said we need to reconceptualize what we thinks as boots on the ground. Youre hearing a growing drumbeat for the boots on the ground component to u. S. Military operations and say its not actually combat force but more Intelligence Forces and but thats where the rubber hits the road. Will the u. S. Population support Something Like that. The senators seem skeptical, i think i am as well. Lindsey graham released a statement about mr. Sotloffs reported deaths. Mr. President , if you cant come up with a strategy, at least tell us what the goal is regarding isil. The white house is dealing with a very complicated conflict right now. Theres so many areas which they can go, they are trying to get more international involvement, european allies later on today in estonia. They are between a rock and hard place right now. Absolutely. We have to separate two things, what the administration is doing in iraq and what they are planning to do with syria. I think in iraq, there is a growing consensus of support around what the administration has done. Were talking over 115 air strikes sean deliberation of the mosul dam and another city yesterday. People say it was probably too late but in support of what the administration has done. Where were seeing criticism is what happens in syria. The administration is taking on a lot of political water for being cautious in some cases what people would say overly cautious about this from the administrations perspective, they dont want to do anything that would be too disruptive without knowing what the consequences will be. They want to be prudent about this. What ive heard from people who talk with the administration is that one of the reasons they dont want to simply react to events as they unfold is because if the United States goes aggressively into syria, whether its through bombs or Tactical Forces on ground, it serves as a disensen tif for allied countries to join them. Weve seen what that has done in the middle east in the past decade. Thats one of the reasons why the administration is being cautious here. But its very obvious that they are taking on a lot of political heat because of it. Its interesting. Theyve also kind of fallen in the trap a little bit to a degree in ukraine in terms of freeloading of allies with us taking the lead. Sam stein, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks, luke. President obama hit the trail yesterday